


We Shine Until We Fade

by idiotTeabags



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, F/F, I can't write action scenes, Mind Control, Multi, Mutants, Not Beta Read, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, So basically, but some are villians, may be out of character, there will probably be some davekat specific chapters later on..., they're superheroes, this is the first work i've ever posted pls don't hate it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-02
Updated: 2020-05-28
Packaged: 2021-01-20 20:20:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21287597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idiotTeabags/pseuds/idiotTeabags
Summary: Terezi Pyrope is attempting to balance being a superhero with friend group drama, with maintaining decent grades, with having an overprotective older sister, with the fact that her childhood best friend moved back to town, and so on. It's just as hard as it sounds.---Vriska Serket's life is turning out to be an incredible fucking disaster. Junior year is hard enough without having to run in circles for some mysterious plan she was never fully informed about. Keeping up with a top-secret supervillain organization, a new school, and shitty history grades may prove to be harder than she anticipated. But hey, at least Terezi's here. Not that Vriska would ever admit she needed her around.
Relationships: Minor or Background Relationship(s), Terezi Pyrope & Vriska Serket, Terezi Pyrope/Vriska Serket
Comments: 7
Kudos: 16





	1. in a world stranger than fiction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was just a drabble I wrote up this morning that I'd like to expand into a larger work. First work I've ever actually posted, so I hope it's not too bad. I've had the idea for a Vrisrezi-centered superhero AU for a while now, so I had fun actually writing this. It's not beta read, and my proofreading skills may not be the best so sorry for any mistakes or if it's just bad in general. Regardless, I hope you enjoy!
> 
> Title comes from the song "Stone Walls" by We The Kings

There were three things in Terezi’s life that she would absolutely be better off without.

The first was AP Chemistry, and the second was her ever-growing to-do list for homework, college applications, extracurriculars, and her sort-of unofficial job as the dual sword-wielding superhero Neophyte. But these first two things weren’t very relevant at the moment. 

It was the third thing that slammed her down against the decaying floorboards. A loud “whoosh” echoed around her, and suddenly Neophyte was alone in the room. 

Dammit. Her attacker had vanished just as suddenly as they’d appeared, and she’d been unable to lock onto their smell at all. A teleporter? That didn’t make any sense at all with who she was tracking down. Did it?

Neophyte picked herself up off the floor and took a deep breath as she observed her surroundings. Obviously, she couldn’t _ see _ them, but who needs vision when all of your other senses fucking rock? 

To say the building was old would be an understatement. The place was honest-to-god rotting beneath her feet. Obviously, that made it the perfect villain hideout. Or something.

There had been reported sightings of unknown masks in the area, but no one had seen enough activity to suggest hero or villain until Sunday morning. One of the unknowns that had shown up briefly on social media was spotted mugging a man outside a Starbucks, effectively placing them on the radar of the city’s heroes. 

Terezi had frowned when she heard of the incident, not just because of the man who got mugged or his younger brother whose wheelchair the villain had knocked over onto the concrete, but because it was such a small move for a new villain. Usually, when new villains showed up they made big, flashy debuts. They wanted media attention. Instant fame. It was kind of odd that the fact that this villain _ hadn’t _ attempted to make an extravagant entrance made Terezi’s stomach turn. It was as if they wanted enough attention to be known, but not so much that they had to reveal their intentions. Whoever this new person was, they were probably laying low while planning something big.

The only defining features described by witnesses had been long blonde hair, a blue coat, and a “feminine witch cackle” which honestly wasn’t much of anything to go on.

It was only by some strange chance that Terezi had picked up on the telltale blueberry scent of the villain’s coat while she was out patrolling as Neophyte. Now though, she questioned if she’d picked up on a different blue. It would’ve been better if she’d caught the scent in person, but the colors on the video would have to do.

Neophyte took a few steps forward, sniffing the air with caution. She definitely wouldn’t have guessed teleporter from the video. A teleporter would have used their powers rather than parkouring away on the rooftops.

Neophyte froze. A teleporter _ definitely _would’ve escaped using their powers. She was chasing the wrong trail. Hm. Well, she might as well take on whatever villain was here anyway. It’d be irresponsible not to. 

She tapped the beacon on her costume, switching it on in case any of her team members needed to track her. It was a safety precaution that the group had agreed was mandatory any time someone patrolled alone, but Neophyte tended to reserve it only for unknown threats or issues she knew she couldn’t handle alone. No need to call Sollux and Karkat and have to deal with two grumpy assholes complaining about the sleep they didn’t get (which was dumb because neither of them actually slept at night anyway. Sollux was too busy with videogames and Karkat spent way too much time on homework).

Neophyte moved down the hall of the old house, taking care to sense any changes in her surroundings. The teleporter was sure to pop up again, right? Then again, they could have fled the scene to avoid confrontation…

Neophyte felt her thoughts trail off as a slow, ebbing pain took root in her head. What was…? Oh. _ Oh. _ She needed to get out. _ Fast. _

A low chuckle echoed inside Neophyte’s mind. _ Hello, Neophyte. _

Mindfang’s telepathy had a strange way of throwing Neophyte off her senses. To maintain her focus on the world around her, she started going through the grounding techniques she had learned from Karkat. They were meant for anxiety, but she’d found they also did wonders for honing her heightened senses. She had to adjust the technique a slight bit (a blind girl can’t very well list 5 things she sees), but they worked well enough.

Neophyte moved through the list as she walked.

_ Four things I can touch. My cane. My glasses. The wall. The ground. _

_ Three things I can hear. _ Mindfang’s droning voice pushed forward into her mind. Neophyte ignored it.

** _Outside _ ** _ my body. A security alarm. A ticking clock. Distant screaming. _

_ Two things I can smell. _ The disgusting spider-scent neared closer the further Neophyte walked, but along with it was the smell of fear. Not Mindfang’s own of course, probably just a hostage she was keeping near her, but it definitely meant Neophyte was getting close. There was something else too, though. Something closer. She was aware that this was more than 2 things she could smell, but she always made an exception for this rule since it was her main sense. What she was smelling was familiar, but it was somehow twisted to the point where she couldn’t recognize it. She inhaled quietly. A loud pop rang out from behind her, and she whirled around instantly. A pair of arms grabbed her.

_ One thing I can taste. _ Neophyte attempted to lick the face of her attacker, but another pop sounded and she felt a harsh pull around her entire body. She was somewhere else now, laying on the ground. Her attacker had let go of her. 

_ The teleporter. Fuck. _ Her senses were entirely thrown off by the drastic change in her environment. As she attempted to recover, Mindfang’s voice pushed into her head, once again. This time Neophyte was much more vulnerable. 

_ Awwwwwwww little Neophyte thinks she can escape me? Cute. Where are your little friends? You run off without them again? _Mindfang’s cackle echoed in Neophyte’s mind. Or in her ears? She couldn’t tell anymore. 

“I see you’re already acquainted with _ my _ new friend.” Mindfang continued. It sounded to Neophyte like she was speaking aloud, but she didn’t trust herself to know the difference when she was this rattled. It had been stupid of her to run in without backup, but she’d heard the chatter on the police scanner and dashed in without a second thought. 

“He’s a great teleporter. Very useful,” Mindfang continued. “Of course, I had to shut him up a bit. Would you believe that this dunce used to talk nonstop about the most idiotic nonsense? I like him much better silent, don’t you agree? I’m thinking of calling him Poltergeist...” 

As Mindfang rambled on, Neophyte slowly struggled to get her senses in order. Mindfang’s biggest weakness was that she could monologue for hours on end. She never tired of her own voice, and that fact would work out in Neophyte’s favor. If she could get her bearings before Mindfang finished talking, she’d be able to face her. 

Neophyte sniffed the air before slowly and carefully reaching out to grab her cane, but just as soon as she had attempted to reach forward a heavy blast of wind forced her backward into Poltergeist who wrapped his arms around her to hold her still.

Mindfang cackled, “Thank you, darling! See how helpful my little sidekick can be? Oh, I guess you don’t. Oops!” 

There was that smell again. Neophyte still couldn’t place it. A familiar scent so wrapped up in the Spiderbitch’s rancid mind control that it was barely detectable. Still…

“Anyway,” Mindfang continued on, “I honestly don’t have a cool story planned to tell you today. I just wanted to take Poltergeist out on a little test run, you know how it is. It was very nice of him to lure you here for me. Not bad for a first run, hm? Now I know what he can do, and I think he’ll be _ very _ useful.” 

Neophyte could smell Mindfang’s disgusting grin stretch across her face. She was standing much closer to the teal-clad hero now, but Neophyte couldn’t do anything about it. Poltergeist held her tightly and her cane was all the way across the room. _ Fuck. _ There had to be a way out of this.

She felt Mindfang’s telepathy reach out to her once more, wrapping its tendrils around her mind. She pushed against it. 

“Now, Red,” Mindfang’s voice now carried a richer tone. It was softer, more calming. “Things will be easier if you don’t struggle. Why don’t you just relax?” 

Neophyte’s body began to go limp, against her will. Her heightened senses kept her rigid, but she struggled to hang onto the reality of her surroundings.

_ Touch. The ground. Glasses. Mindfang’s soft hand on my face. _

_ Relax. _

_ Hear. Creaking floorboards. Mindfang’s voice. _

_ Calm down. Listen to me… _

_ Mindfang’s voice. Mindfang’s voice. Mindfang’s– _

A new voice. There was another voice in Neophyte’s head. Similar to Mindfang’s, yes, but unmistakably different. 

_ Ne8phyte! _ The voice called out to her from the back of her mind. It was weaker than Mindfang’s but if she focused on it… 

_ F8ght her!!!!!!!! _ The voice was insistent. It gave Neophyte something to hang onto. 

Poltergeist’s grip on her seemed to weaken for a moment. Could he hear the other voice too?

She sniffed the air and found Mindfang was still directly in front of her face. It was the perfect set up. In one smooth motion, Neophyte ripped herself free of Poltergeist’s grip and hit Mindfang in the face with a forceful right hook. It wasn’t enough to keep her down, but the shock would hold her for a few seconds at the very least. 

Neophyte dashed for her cane and turned to attack the stunned Mindfang again when a powerful voice echoed through the room. This time it was loud and clear and definitely not in Neophyte’s head. 

“HEY, BITCH!!!!!!!!” 

A blue shadow jumped down from the ceiling, landing directly on top of Mindfang. The blue shadow smelled similar to Mindfang, so when they started wrestling Neophyte couldn’t tell who was winning. While they were occupied, Neophyte began to glance around for Poltergeist, but he seemed to have disappeared entirely. Hopefully, he was free of Mindfang’s control and had teleported somewhere safe. 

The two telepaths were still fighting on the ground, but from the smell of it, Neophyte guessed Mindfang had gained the upper hand. Again, the unknown voice echoed through her mind. 

_ D8n’t just st8nd there like a useless f8cking prick! H8lp me take her d8wn!!!!!!!! _

Neophyte intended to do just that. With a quick twist of her cane, she freed the blade trapped inside and slashed it across the figure she hoped was Mindfang. A deafening scream rang out, but it sounded more angry than pained.

An enthusiastic: _ Ye8hhhhhh!!!!!!!! Keep g8ing! _Was enough confirmation for Neophyte that she had hit the right figure. She continued to slash her sword at Mindfang’s stumbling figure as the villainess slashed back with her own sword, which she seemed to have conjured out of thin air.

The new shadowy telepath had a strange way of fighting, different than any Neophyte had ever smelled before. She seemed to be using some kind of strange projectile to trap Mindfang. _ Webbing? _ Neophyte wondered. She did smell similar to the Spiderbitch, so that would go along with the motif. Whatever it was, it seemed to be working. 

The two heroes nearly had Mindfang trapped completely when Poltergeist reappeared, pushing past them and grabbing hold of Mindfang. 

“Fuck you.” The villainess coughed, spitting up a small amount of blood before she and Poltergeist vanished into the air.

_ Fuck you, Neophyte. Don’t assume you can get rid of me that easily. I’ll be back for that pretty little mind of yours. You’ll be a welcome addition to my team. _

Neophyte shook her head a bit to clear it of the awful telepath. She got lucky today. If it hadn’t been for the other telepath…

Neophyte turned to thank her saving grace, but she was gone. When the teal hero sniffed the air the telepath’s scent was still faint, but she was clearly nowhere nearby. 

Neophyte let out a heavy sigh then sat down, pulled her phone out of her utility belt pocket, and popped her headphones in. 

“You have 4 missed calls and 13 new texts_._” Her screen reader announces helpfully.

“Fuck.” Latula’s gonna be pissed.

  
  



	2. sister, sister

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A sisterly discussion and a new girl at school...

Eight days ago, on Wednesday, the Serkets moved houses across town. 

Seven days ago, on Thursday, Vriska Serket punched a pillow after finding out she would be going to the same high school as her old middle school friends. 

Six days ago, on Friday, Vriska Serket toured the school and came home with a new boyfriend.

Five days ago, on Saturday, John came over for movie night, and never went home.

Four days ago, on Sunday, Vriska got restless while Aranea was working, so she left the house to have a little fun…

Three days ago, on Monday, Aranea found the video online and yelled at Vriska about going out in costume when it’s not part of the plan.

Two days ago, on Tuesday, Aranea got orders from S.C.R.A.T.C.H. and filled Vriska in on the new plan.

One day ago, on Wednesday, Aranea had to convince John’s father, once again, that he was fine, that Aranea was totally trustworthy, and that they should go home and forget for a while.

This morning, Thursday, 1:34 AM: Aranea and Vriska (and John) carried out the plan. 

Three birds with one stone, an experiment taken for a test run, the trust of a hero gained, and a quick ruse to draw attention away from S.C.R.A.T.C.H.’s greater plans. 

Aranea was pissed about getting hurt, but it wasn’t like S.C.R.A.T.C.H. didn’t provide healing technology. A little bit of blood wasn’t a concern, it was an inconvenience. Very few things could concern a villainous organization like S.C.R.A.T.C.H. and the lives of its workers… well, let’s just say Aranea thought herself quite a bit more valuable than the organization’s leaders did. Sure, she was a powerful telepath, but now they had a backup.

Vriska was the backup. She had only recently been inducted into the organization after having to prove herself trustworthy by taking up small training tasks for months on end. Then, after her induction, she was told: “wait”. Don’t go out in costume and fuck stuff up. _ Wait. _ Sit in your little house while your sister does villain jobs, and _ just. fucking. wait. _

Needless to say, Vriska got veeeeeeeery restless. She almost fucked things up on Sunday with the mugging, but what was she supposed to do? It looked so fun and she was soooooooo bored. Besides, it all worked out in the end, didn’t it? The plan was in motion. Vriska was _ ready _. She could easily gain the heroes’ trust, right? She’d “saved” that one girl, Neo-whatever, and then she would go chatting to her hero friends about the mysterious new girl who fought Mindfang and Vriska would make her entrance and find out all of the Alternia Team’s secrets. 

“It’s foolproof.” Aranea had said, smugly after reading what _ her _role in the plan would be.

“I’ll bet.” Vriska had snarked. “Must be why they handed it off to you.”

And such was the way of the Serket sisters, snapping at one another, making evil plans, and just generally pissing one another off.

It was their own kind of love. At least they were evil together. And without Mom, because honestly? Fuck her.

\---

Latula was gonna be pissed. _ Really. Fucking. Pissed. _

Normally, Latula was the cool older sister who was super chill about Terezi going to parties or hanging out with friends or basically whatever she wanted as long as she told her beforehand. Superhero activities, however, operated under a separate set of other rules as well.

Rule number 1: Tell Latula when and where you’re going.

Rule number 2: Don’t go out alone. At the very least, have someone on back-up nearby.

Rule number 3: Don’t dive into situations that are more than you can handle.

Rule number 4: Don’t you _ dare _ fuck with the Juggalos unless you want to get dead real quick.

The fact that Terezi had simultaneously broken all but one of those rules meant Latula would be beside herself with worry. 

Latula hadn’t always been so strict about superheroes; at one point she had even been part of her own team. Terezi didn’t know much about Latula’s crime-fighting days, since she was so young at the time, just that she had gone by the name Redglare and been really popular with the public. It wasn’t until Mituna’s accident that she quit the hero gig for good. 

When Terezi had started fighting crime Latula had been (understandably) upset. Still, she knew she couldn’t convince her little sister to stop completely, so the rules were put in place and Terezi followed them. For the most part. A few exceptions had occurred, but usually, her team kept her on track. Except her team wasn’t there for this one, which goes against rule number 2 and yeah, Terezi was totally screwed.

Terezi opened the door to the house fully ready to be yelled at and was stunned by Latula’s arms wrapping around her the minute she stepped inside. 

“Holy shit, sis.” Latula hugged Terezi tighter for a few seconds more before gripping her shoulders and pushing her away. “You scared the shit out of me. What the fuck happened?” 

Terezi began to speak, but Latula cut her off. “I woke up and saw your tracker flashing on the monitor. Do you know how many times I tried to call you? And you wouldn’t answer so then I called Sollux and he didn’t know you were out and then Karkat and Kanaya didn’t know, so I _ know _you didn’t have back-up with you!” 

“Tula, I–” 

“Why didn’t you tell me where you were going? You need to have back-up Terezi, it’s not safe to fight out there alone! What were you doing? You’re not supposed to leave in the middle of the night for patrol!” Latula had started pacing. Her footsteps echoed as she walked back and forth fast enough to create a small breeze of air. 

“Tula, I’m _ sorry _. I just–”

“Damn right, you’re sorry! Dammit, sis,” Latula stopped pacing. “It’s just– shit. _ Shit. _ I just want you to be safe,” She pulled Terezi into another tight hug. “I’m glad you’re okay, but you have to follow the rules, kid,” She sighed. “Just… tell me what happened.”

Terezi took a deep breath before recounting the evening’s events. “I couldn’t sleep, so I went out. I smelled something blue out around the old houses on the edge of town, so I went by one and I found that Spiderb–”

“Mindfang,” Latula interrupted, her voice strained. “You faced. Mindfang. Alone.”

“Latula, I’m sorry, I know–”

“You could have _ died _, Terezi.”

Silence.

“She could’ve taken over your mind and made you one of her fucking puppets, and you had no back-up to rely on– fuck! How did you even get out of there?”

Terezi hesitated to answer. Some part of her wanted to keep news of the new telepath to herself, but maybe if she mentioned there was another hero there, Latula would calm down a little… 

“Just lucky, I guess,” Terezi started, “A new hero showed up to help. We took on Mindfang together. She fled the scene right after Mindfang disappeared. Didn’t catch her name.”

Latula stared blankly at Terezi, “Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Yeah. Okay,” Latula sighed. “I’m glad there was someone else there, but next time be more careful, please. And I want you to make sure this new hero can be trusted before teaming up with her again, okay, Rez?”

“Yeah, okay.” Terezi smiled sheepishly. “Sorry, Tula.”

Latula pulled Terezi toward her and ruffled her hair. 

"Okay, kid. It’s like three o’clock, go back to sleep until you have to be ready for school. Also, what do you want for breakfast? I was thinking I could drop by the McDonalds on Maple Avenue and bring something back for us before work…”

\---

"Today feels like such a Monday. You know, like, how sometimes you wake up on a Tuesday and you're all like 'fuck man, today is giving off total Monday vibes' and then you get to school and everything feels so dull and kinda sucks but like it's not actually Monday because it's Tuesday. That's what today is like, except it's Thursday. A Thursday that feels like one of those weird fakey Monday-Tuesdays and shit. Woke up today all like 'aw shit, man-'" 

"Strider, will you shut the ever-loving fuck up!" Karkat's voice echoed in the near-silent high school lobby. "Nobody fucking cares about your dumbass rambling about the dumbass days of the dumbass fucking week!"

"No-can-do, Kitkat," Dave's mouth twisted into a tiny semblance of a grin as he adjusted his trademark shades. "Looks like someone has a total case of the Mondays, though. All fucking grumpy all the time. Like you woke up on the wrong side of the bed hoping it was Friday but then suddenly, boom! Thursday. It's like fake Friday getting you all excited and shit until you get to school and realize 'fuck it's just another motherfuckin’ Monday-Tuesday.'" 

Terezi grinned almost maliciously as she approached her friends. 

“Hey, cool kid,” Terezi grinned at Dave and flicked Karkat in the back of the head as she joined the duo.

“Ow, what the FUCK!” Karkat’s overdramatic outburst was quickly ignored, save for a few glances from the other students in the lobby.

“Sup, Rez.” Dave nodded coolly as Terezi swung an arm around his shoulders, which was made slightly more difficult by the fact that Dave was at least half a foot taller than her. 

Terezi poked at the camera that hung around Dave’s neck. “Got any rad pictures lately?” She inquired, making a show of sniffing the camera. 

Where there are superheroes, there are diehard photographers, and Dave was notorious around the school for his pictures of heroes in action. Driven by his unbreakable curiosity and lack of self-preservation instincts, he was almost always sure to be present at the scene of any superhero battle. Terezi found this helpful, Karkat found it annoying, and Sollux, as the third member of their team, didn’t fucking care. But no matter what the team thought, photos like Dave’s can turn out to be extremely helpful leads. With a new hero turning up out of the blue (especially one who Terezi was impatient to find again) Dave’s camera seemed to be the best place to turn. It was possible he could’ve caught a few pictures of the new hero running around, right?

“Nothing since yesterday, sorry.” Dave shrugged, “I couldn’t get out last night ‘cuz Roxy’s trying to turn Wednesdays into ‘mandatory family bonding time.’ Not that that’s not a sweet idea, but I don’t really need Rose poking around in my head during a game of Sorry, y’know?” 

_ Dammit. _

She knew she wasn’t being subtle, asking for pictures out of the blue, and Karkat was going to ask about this later. She’ll just have to rely on him and Sollux to help her find the new hero.

Terezi forced a laugh to play off her disappointment, “What, you scared she’ll figure out your stupid crush on a certain iron-clad superhero?” She teased, knowing full well that Karkat aka Carcino was listening _ and _ blushing. If she could get Dave rambling, she could distract Karkat at least until the bell rang...

The corners of Dave’s mouth twitched into a slight grin. “What can I say? The dude’s hot. Fucking beautiful. Ten out of ten would bang,” Karkat’s face continued to redden as Dave continued, “I bet he’s really fucking hot under that mask, not to mention that _ ass _–”

“OKAY, let’s fucking STOP this now!” Karkat had started to look like he was suffering from an awful sunburn across his entire face. 

“Aw, what’s the matter Karkles, you _ jealous _?” Terezi taunted, happily adding fuel to the fire. Whether Dave’s crush on Carcino was genuine or ironic, she wasn’t sure, but she found it hilarious either way. 

Karkat moved to make an outraged retort, but just then, the bell rang and it was time to go to class. Terezi stuck her tongue out at Karkat and quickly dashed towards the Science hall, knowing that Karkat wouldn’t follow her to first period just to yell at her.

The chemistry lab was all the way across the school, so she had to hurry if she didn’t want to be late. She could only afford so many tardies if she wanted to be exempt from her final exams. The school had instituted the exam exemption policy to keep kids from skipping class or dawdling in the hallways by adding an extra motivation of not having to take more stupid tests (as long as their grades were high enough, at least). The policy sort-of worked, though all it really did was convince kids they couldn’t stay home when they got sick. It was kind of a stupid policy in that way.

Terezi made her way to her usual seat near the front of the room where she usually sat next to John, but he was absent today. He’d been absent this whole week, actually…

“Yeah, I dunno, I texted him, but he just said he wasn’t feeling well! It’s really not like him. Especially since he’s so obsessed with not having to take the exams…” Jade had a naturally loud voice, so Terezi wasn’t technically eavesdropping. 

“That’s so weird, Jadey!” Roxy was even louder than Jade. “D’you need help to gather his homework for him today? ‘Cuz I can get his stuff for Bio and Econ and bring it over later…” Terezi stopped listening and turned to Sollux, who was hunched over his laptop. 

“Hey, Appleberry, whatcha doin’?” Terezi leaned into Sollux’s space, and he pushed her away before she could lick his computer screen. 

“Quit it, TZ. I’m trying to finith a paper for aquatic thienthe becauthe my idiot lab partner never fucking does anything!” 

Terezi beamed at him. Sollux had only signed up to take Aquatic Science because _ Feferi _was taking it. Then, all his stupid nerd dreams about being her lab partner were instantly crushed when she was put into the class during a different period, thus leaving him partnered with Eridan who was also less than thrilled with the arrangement. 

Terezi was about to make a snide comment about how Sollux and Eridan should totally hate-fuck or something when their teacher called them to attention. A new smell hit Terezi’s nose. Well, not quite new, per se. There was something familiar about it. Something Terezi hadn’t thought of in a long time…

“Class,” Ms. Mendicant began. Someone was standing next to her. Students were whispering…

It can’t be...

“I’d like to introduce our newest student, Vriska Serket!”

Holy shit.

Holy. Fucking. Shit.

“Miss Serket, why don’t you just find a seat, anywhere is fine for today, since we’ll be moving around a bit anyway. Now…” Ms. Mendicant continued to talk, but Terezi wasn’t listening. She was too focused on the fact that Vriska Serket, her childhood best friend was sitting right next to her. In AP chemistry. In John’s seat. John who had been her lab partner for the better half of the year but who wasn’t here now.

“So, now you can go ahead and pair up and start working on the pre-lab questions! And remember to come dressed for our lab tomorrow! Closed-toed shoes, hair pulled up!”

“Hey,” A cool hand touched Terezi on the shoulder and she turned. She could sense the conspiratory grin that graced the face of the figure before her. 

“Wannabe lab partners?” Vriska Serket’s voice had barely changed over the years. It still held that odd sort of high-pitched quality, that sounded almost like a witch about to cackle, but it was a bit lower. Rougher. Tired? Whatever. It may have been different from when they were kids, but it was still Vriska, and that thought was both reassuring and terrifying at the same time.

Terezi grinned widely. “Scourge Sisters, back at it again, huh?”

This was going to be fun.

  
  



	3. phantom pains

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! So sorry it's been so long, I've been trying to get the motivation to keep writing this story but I think I've finally found it! :) I made some revisions to my original plot outline and I'm much happier with the changed direction. 
> 
> That said, before posting this chapter, I revised a LOT of chapters 1 & 2, and a lot more was added, specifically from Vriska's perspective so if you read those before I revised them you'll want to go back through them again before reading this one!
> 
> I hope you enjoy!! :) This was a lot of fun to write.

Vriska had mixed feelings about going to Skaia High School. On the one hand, all her former middle school friends would be there, hating her, in all their stupid lameness, but on the other hand there was Terezi. 

Terezi was the best thing about elementary school, and then she was the best thing about middle school, and she was _ definitely _ the best thing about Skaia High. They had been an unstoppable duo, the scourge of the school. There had been less worries back then. It was just Vriska and Terezi and everything was awesome because everything was always right with Terezi.

Terezi, who was right there on the front row of the chemistry classroom with a gloriously empty seat right next to her. If Vriska believed in God, she would’ve thanked her, but she didn’t so she thanked herself instead for being so awesome and lucky. 

She looked down at the lab paper the teacher had given her. It was a simple titration lab, which meant they had a few calculations to do, but there would definitely be time to chat during the process. Vriska glanced at Terezi, who was licking her paper to “read” it just the same as ever while the teacher gave her a disgusted look from behind her desk. 

Vriska elbowed Terezi softly and snickered, “I don’t think Miss Whatsername likes the way you read.”

Terezi grinned from ear to ear, “Yeah, she always makes John read stuff to me because apparently it’s ‘scientifically impossible’ and ‘extremely unsanitary’ to see with your mouth. Also something or other about dangerous chemicals in the lab.” She cackled.

_ John _? Vriska hesitated for a moment. John the tour guide? John who was currently back at her house in a deep hypnotic state as part of S.C.R.A.T.C.H.’s latest experimental program? Terezi knew him? 

_ Maybe not _ , Vriska reasoned, _ John is a common name _ . _ There’s probably a hundred Johns in this school. _

“Who’s John?”, Vriska asked, staring down at her paper, expressionless.

Terezi pulled her lab paper away from her mouth to respond, “John Egbert, tall nerdy kid with glasses.”

_ shit. _

“He’s usually my lab partner, but he’s been absent all week.”

_ Shit. _

“He’s a dumbass, but a decent friend. You’d definitely make fun of him. I’ll introduce you when he gets back.”

_ shit shit shit. _

Vriska had known her work for S.C.R.- fuck it, acronyms are stupid- her work for _ Scratch _ would overlap with her school life, but she hadn’t considered that it would come so close to Terezi so soon. It wasn’t right, to have her new life so close to the old life she wanted so badly to revive. 

Vriska knew she couldn’t go back, couldn’t have the same life she had before she moved the first time. It wasn’t possible for her to move backward, especially now that she was working for Scratch. 

She also knew that when she chose to bring John back for the experimental program, it would be putting his friends on the program’s radar. She had recklessly endangered whichever of her classmates had close friendships with John, and had absolutely zero qualms about it until this exact moment. Because now she wasn’t endangering some nameless strangers or people she may have talked to once or twice in middle school. Now she was endangering _ Terezi _. 

With anyone else it might have been fine, but Terezi had an obsession with justice. She had keen senses. She would get suspicious, notice something was up, and she would investigate. If it was possible to scope out the truth, Terezi would do it, and if it wasn’t possible she would die trying. 

That’s what scared Vriska most about this whole situation.

She didn’t want Terezi to get hurt… 

\---

“So what was so urgent about doing this investigation tonight, again?”

Neophyte glared at her whiny partner. It was 11 PM and they were back in the crumbling old house where Mindfang and Poltergeist had been the night before. Neophyte’s thoughts had been on the mysterious new hero almost all day, save for chemistry when Vriska showed up. Funny how both parts of Terezi’s double life were now consumed by random girls showing up out of the blue.

“I told you, Mindfang, remember? She was here this morning, it was shady.” Neophyte ran her hand over the peeling wallpaper. With a villain like Mindfang appearing so suddenly, there was a lot to be suspicious about. Especially since she’d had a new villain with her. Latula wouldn’t let her go out to investigate further alone, so she’d brought Carcino along. “There’s something weird about this house, she must be doing something here, I know it.” 

Carcino stepped forward carefully, the floorboards creaking under his feet. “This place is falling apart. What the hell would she be doing here?” His voice echoed across the dusty room as the house creaked. 

Carcino wasn’t the greatest candidate for stealth missions because in and out of costume, Karkat was always loud. Still, if they had a run-in with a villain, he was a valuable fighter. His ability to transform his skin into metal made him a lot stronger than one would think by looking at him. Technically he could transform into any substance he touched (which was most often the iron necklace he wore under his costume), but the last time he’d attempted something nonmetal had been… a less than happy experience. He’d been able to shift back to normal, but he’d also ended up in a week-long coma and come out of it with a permanent blood defect. 

“Damn, could you be any louder?” Neophyte snapped, but there was no real bite behind her words. She didn’t think anyone was really there to hear them, but she had to tease Carcino a little. “I don’t know what she could be working on but whatever it is, it isn’t good.” 

Carcino scoffed at the statement. “Yeah, no fucking shit,” He kicked at a rotting piece of wood on the floor. “Of course it’s not good, that’s why she’s a villain.”

The duo wandered through the house for another half-hour or so, carefully checking for any nefarious signs of Mindfang’s potentially very evil plot. Eventually, they reconvened back at the front entryway, both empty-handed.

“Nothing here, is that it?”

Neophyte shrugged. “Yeah, I guess so. We should probably check the rest of the city for her eventually.” She tapped the doorframe gently with her cane, distractedly, causing a small shower of dust to fall onto Carcino’s hair. He sneezed. She laughed.

“Fuck you.” Carcino spat the words out forcefully, and they would have sounded angry if not for the smile on his face. Had someone been looking away from the scene and only heard those words they would have thought him truly angry with Neophyte, but though she was blind, she knew better. There was a very slight change of inflection in Karkat’s voice that distinguished all the different emotional variations of “Shouty”, and Terezi had mastered her ability to tell the difference between them years ago. 

“I’m hungry,” Neophyte grinned as she carelessly slammed open the house’s rotting door. “I say we grab some food before heading home.”

Karkat grumbled some weak agreement and followed her out the door.

\---

They ended up sitting on the pavement outside a corner store, splitting a giant bag of bugles and a couple packs of candy.

“So,” Terezi slurped at the cherry slush that she’d happily bought and dumped a package of rainbow Nerds into. 

“Dave.”

Karkat threw an M&M at her. 

“No. Shut up.” 

Terezi intended to do no such thing. “ He _ liiiiikessss _ you.” She grinned, maliciously, and Karkat responded by throwing another M&M which she skillfully caught in her mouth and ate.

Karkat grumbled a bit before responding. “He doesn’t. Really. He’s just got a dumb obsession with superheroes and I happen to be one. He doesn’t like _ me _, he likes Carcino.”

Terezi smirked. “But you _ are _ Carcino. _ And _ you like him.” She tossed a handful of bugles into her mouth and crunched on them as she spoke, “Not seeing the problem.”

Karkat sighed, overdramatically as if Dave was the most inconvenient subject in the world to talk about. “I _ don’t _like him, thank you very much, and even if I did it wouldn’t matter because he’s got an idealized picture in his head of perfect superhero Carcino and that’s not-”

The screeching of a police siren echoed through the air, effectively cutting off Karkat’s rant. Within seconds, Terezi’s phone rang and Sollux relayed instructions to the duo as they dashed off to help.

\---

There was an unearthly chill in the air. Vriska couldn’t tell if it was actually cold or just her excitement creating too much nervous energy. She finally had a field mission. _ A purpose. _ It was about time Scratch realized her worth. And it was all set up perfectly...

\---

It was probably cold outside. It was winter, wasn’t it? Late February-ish? Right? Something like that. It didn’t matter. You weren’t supposed to think about things that didn’t matter. 

Your orders were what mattered. You didn’t need to think about them, just needed to follow them. And that was what you did.

You could feel the breeze. It was a lot more present now that you were a part of it. It seemed to never let you alone. Most of the time you could control it, and that was nice. It was useful. It was almost like it was part of you now, an extension of your own body. Sometimes it fought you, and that didn’t make sense because it was a part of you and you were just following orders like you’re supposed to. It wasn’t like you didn’t want to follow orders, right? 

Wind is volatile. It can’t be contained easily. Maybe the wind that fought you was part of you that was unreasonable and didn’t want to follow orders. Or something like that. It’s all just stuff you shouldn’t think about. Things you aren’t smart enough to think about. Better to leave the smart thinking to someone in charge. Better to just follow orders.

Your mind calmed down. Your head was empty. No thoughts. Easy for the orders to pour in. And so they did. 

Tripping the silent alarm was easy, a simple breeze and the bank security system knew you were there. The police would rush to your location, but it didn’t matter. You weren’t there for the money. At least, the orders said you weren’t. 

You let the breeze surround you, becoming the wind, and it took you to the two masked figures. Mindfang’s soft voice whispered in your head and you conjured up a twister, aiming the full force of the winds at the duo. 

There was a lot of shouting, particularly from the dark-haired gray one. Something within you smiled at the familiarity of that thought, but a moment later it disappeared. What had you been thinking about again? The orders. The enemies. The winds. You kept yourself moving with the breeze, dodging blows, pushing your enemies away. 

Then there was a third masked figure caught up in your twister. Was there anything about that in the orders? You couldn’t remember. You tried to think...

The sweet voice of your orders whispered to you again and you couldn’t help but smile. It was so nice of Mindfang to help you like this. To connect you to the wind, to think for you. Thinking was so hard and you were so very, very dumb. When you tried to think it made you slow. Better and faster to follow orders.

You froze for a moment, the winds weakened momentarily, but it was all fine, because those were your orders.

You felt something heavy crash into you, and you were suddenly covered with some web-like substance that held you still. There was more shouting and the three figures approached you.

Yet, before they could reach you there was another whispered order and you were gone.

\---

The fight went exactly as planned. 

Vriska undid her ponytail and threw herself down onto the living room couch, grinning. She shut her eyes for a moment to bask in her own brilliance and skills. She’d shown up to the fight a few minutes after Neophyte and Carcino, and then she’d helped them “take down” Poltergeist. 

Aranea really knew how to put on a show. There were so many fake-outs that Vriska saved the heroes from! It was honestly hilarious. Neophyte _ totally _ trusted her, haha. Carcino was a stubborn bitch but he’d come around. Vriska would make sure Spinneret was too lucky and charming for him not to. She’d get the whole team to trust her, and it would all go perfectly according to the plan. 

Vriska opened her eyes and instantly jumped back. Poltergeist - John - stood before her, in the middle of the living room, face slack, eyes glowing blue, completely frozen. 

Aranea popped her head out of the doorway to the kitchen.

“He’ll need to go back to school tomorrow. It’s part of the plan.” She grinned. “We can’t arouse too much suspicion, but we’ll have him under surveillance. Plus, he has to meet with his friends if we’re ever going to further the program.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I know this chapter was very exposition-y in a lot of ways, but the plot is really just kicking off here and some stuff needs to get out of the way first.  
I'd LOVE to hear your thoughts, predictions, and questions about the world and the story!


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